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Chris Bosh took the microphone and verbalized his appreciation to the Raptors fans before the game.

It wasn't former GM Glen Grunwald quality -- more thank you for sticking by us than an apology on bended knee -- but no one could doubt the sincerity.

The Raptor faithful, a crowd of 18,018, showed its moderate appreciation for his words of thanks with polite applause.

Then Bosh and his teammates went out and showed their fans how much they did appreciate the support with a hard-fought 111-104 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

The result was meaningless to both teams, but it gave the fans a good note to end on.

The fact that it could have been Bosh's last game at the Air Canada Centre as a member of the Raptors was something Bosh was not prepared to address.

"My employer right now is who it is right now,' Bosh said cutting off further questioning along this line. "If rumours get started, I can't control that. Right now who I work for is who I play for," Bosh said.

Bosh will sit down with GM Bryan Colangelo at the end of the season as will all the Raptors. He said last night he's not prepared to indicate what his intentions are after the 2009-10 season.

"I'm not indicating anything,' Bosh said. "It will be routine stuff. We will go over the season, assess the season. See how we can get better, see how I can get better."

But rest assured the time will come this off-season that Colangelo will come to Bosh looking for some form of commitment beyond 2010. Only then will the Raptors GM be able to proceed with a sound off-season strategy.

Bosh was much more forthcoming on what he will take out of a season that will end without a trip to the playoffs despite some pretty high expectations last October.

"I learned not to get too ahead of myself, that's what I learned," Bosh said of what he'll take out of the year. "I learned not to pay attention to the paper (a reference to the much repeated best team on paper his GM made at the beginning of the year). The paper means nothing. You work hard and you earn everything you get."

Hard work and a clear desire to at least end the home season on a high note were much in evidence last night.

Bosh led the way with 22 points, one of six Raptors to reach double digits.

Jose Calderon had 11 points and 11 assists. He also went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line to creep closer to becoming the NBA leader in free-throw efficiency for a season.

While the Raptors were slow to get going, they finally started to pull away through the first six minutes of the fourth quarter when they went on a 21-8 run to extend their lead to 14. The Sixers clawed that back to as little as four with 21/2 minutes remaining but could get no closer.

Calderon said after the game that he and all his teammates are well aware of the disappointment the fan base is feeling these days.

"We know that it has been a long season for everyone," Calderon said. "We lose a lot of games here at home but they (the fans) really helped us. We have the whole summer and we will be a better team next season for sure."